עַל־פְּנֵ֥י

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 עַל־פְּנֵ֥י

   al-pe-NE

   upon the face of
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 עַל־פְּנֵ֥י תְהֽוֹם׃

   al-pe-NE te-HOM

   upon the face of the deep
3. clause🔊 בְּח֥וּקוֹ ח֝֗וּג עַל־פְּנֵ֥י תְהֽוֹם׃

   be-khu-KO KHUG al-pe-NE te-HOM

   when he inscribed a circle upon the face of the deep
4. sentence🔊 בַּהֲכִינ֣וֹ שָׁ֭מַיִם שָׁ֣ם אָ֑נִי בְּח֥וּקוֹ ח֝֗וּג עַל־פְּנֵ֥י תְהֽוֹם׃

   ba-ha-khi-NO sha-MA-yim SHAM a-NI be-khu-KO KHUG al-pe-NE te-HOM

   when he established heavens there I when he inscribed a circle upon the face of the deep

Exegesis

The noun chug {ח֝֗וּג | ḥûg} ‘circle’ introduces a cosmic boundary motif, and the prepositional phrase al-penei {עַל־פְּנֵ֥י | ʿal-pə-nê} ‘upon the face of’ links it to tehom {תְהֽוֹם | tə-ḥôm} ‘the deep.’ This parallelism between heavens and deep yields a chiastic universe framed by upper and lower limits.